Holding onto my hat

Friday, July 10, 2015

Situated in Mountbatten SMC lies a cluster of unassuming old
buildings known as Dakota Crescent.

Named after the Douglas CD-3 Dakota aeroplanes that used to
land at Kallang Airport, Singapore's first civilian airport, Dakota Crescent was built in 1959 by the Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor of HDB.

For more than 50 years, Dakota Crescent has been providing homes to many
pioneer generation Singaporeans.

Local residents and commentators have noted the estate’s
highlights – ranging from its unique architecture, the iconic Dove Playground
to its ties to Singapore’s aviation history.

Today, Dakota Crescent is slated for redevelopment. The fate of the buildings which comprise the estate
is uncertain.

Certainly, Dakota Crescent must be conserved as a heritage for our
future generation. We should not let it
be demolished.

Dakota Crescent is a key rung in the ladder of Singapore’s evolving social housing and community-building efforts. It was an experiment in public housing by the Lim Yew Hock Government (in office from 1956 to 1959) to address a housing crisis. The estate is a physical reminder of a past struggle
by the government to elevate its citizens from slums and squatter settlements into affordable public
housing.

Knowing our past challenges and how we overcame them are keys to build nationhood, enrich our identity as Singaporeans and inspire our way ahead.

It is important to make the effort to conserve Dakota Crescent
because of its place in Singapore’s history of public housing and community
building efforts.

Conserve Dakota Crescent for the Community

Singapore’s conservation efforts have often been found wanting – the
Bukit Brown controversy is testament to that.

Even when buildings are conserved, public icons have ended up
becoming closed to the communities they once served. One prominent example is
the Fullerton Building, which used to house the General Post Office from 1928
to 1996. The landmark building was the main communications hub in those
days. Businessmen and ordinary folk frequented
its massive hall to mail out and pick up their letters. However, after being gazetted as a
conservation building in 1997, the Fullerton Building turned into 5-star luxury
hotel. Its purpose had turned from community
to commercial.

Redevelopment is often necessary
in Singapore but it would be a shame if after conservation, Dakota Crescent is reorganised into an up-market commercial
purpose or private space that excludes ordinary Singaporeans. Especially since Dakota Crescent was originally built
to serve the community.

The redeveloped estate must allow the
public access to walk around the estate and not be confined to view it from the
outside.

Future use of Dakota
Crescent

The possibilities for
redevelopment are many and they include arts/educational centres, and other
social spaces for community use.

Dakota Crescent is situated around
an MRT station, sports, recreational facilities, market and hawker centre,
which makes it a natural centre for community to congregate. The locality has
an established community of residents and amenity-suppliers who have been in
the area for five decades. A vibrant
community of retirees, working adults and children offers opportunities to
create symbiotic multi-functional facilities like childcare, elder care with
retirees looking out for the young ones.

A hybrid development plan could be
explored, allowing the developer the freedom to commercialise a certain portion
of the area, while binding the developer to ensure that a certain portion of
the area be allocated for community use. There could therefore be a win-win
compromise between commercial and community purposes.

Alternatively, an open competition
to encourage ideas for the redevelopment of the estate could be a creative way
to engage local voices and opinions. Singaporean architects, urban planners and
other bright minds could enter the competition to discover creative ways to
ensure that redevelopment does not compromise the preservation of history and
heritage.

The Old National Theatre, Van Cleef Aquarium, Old National Library
Building - they are gone. Let’s ensure
that Dakota Crescent remains, and not meet the same fate as those icons.

If the estate is to be redeveloped, then let it be in a way that
honours Dakota Crescent’s historical narrative of building the community.

About Me

Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss is a practising lawyer who earned her law degree in the United Kingdom. She also holds a Masters Degree in Corporate & Commercial Law from the London School of Economics & Political Science and was called to the English Bar in 1986.
Jeannette is happily married and a mother of four children.
She challenged the incumbent at Mountbatten SMC in Singapore's 2011 General Elections and garnered 41.38% of the votes cast.